There is a union and communion with christians as such: this consisteth in having one God, one Head, one Spirit, one faith, one baptismal covenant, one rule of holy living, and in loving and praying for all, and doing good to as many as we can. This is a union and communion of mind, which we must hold with the catholic church through the world. And there is a bodily local union and communion, which consisteth in our joining in body, as well as mind, with particular congregations: and this, as we cannot hold it with all, nor with any congregation, but one at once; so we are not bound to hold it with any, that will drive us from it, unless we will commit some sin:[63] statedly we must hold it with the church which regularly we are joined to, and live with; and occasionally we must hold it with all others, where we have a call and opportunity, who in the substance worship God according to his word, and force us not to sin in conformity to them. It is not schism to lament the sins of any church, or of all the churches in the world: the catholic church on earth consists of sinners. It is not schism to refuse to be partaker in any sin of the purest church in the world: obedience to God is not schism. It is not schism that you join not bodily with those congregations where you dwell not, nor have any particular call to join with them; nor that you choose the purest and most edifying society, rather than one that is less pure and profitable to you; _cæteris paribus_, supposing you are at liberty: nor that you hold not bodily communion with that church, that will not suffer you to do it, without sinning against God; nor that you join not with the purest churches, when you are called to abide with one less pure. But it is worse than schism to separate from the universal church: to separate from its faith is apostasy to infidelity. To separate from it in some one or few essential articles, while you pretend to hold to Christ the Head, is heresy: to separate from it in Spirit, by refusing holiness, and not loving such as are truly holy, is damning ungodliness or wickedness: to differ from it by any error, of judgment or life, against the law of God, is sin. To magnify any one church or party, so as to deny due love and communion to the rest, is schism. To limit all the church to your party, and deny all or any of the rest to be christians, and parts of the universal church, is schism by a dangerous breach of charity; and this is the principal schism that I here admonish you to avoid. It is schism also to condemn unjustly any particular church, as no church; and it is schism to withdraw your bodily communion from a church that you were bound to hold that communion with, upon a false supposition that it is no church, or is not lawfully to be communicated with. And it is schism to make divisions or parties in a church, though you divide not from that church. Thus I have (briefly) told you what is schism.